There's going to be a Democratic primary for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania next spring. Today, Rep. Joe Sestak is making it official. He's challenging the new Democrat, but long-term Senator, Arlen Specter:
The second-term congressman from Delaware County, a former Navy vice admiral, scheduled a morning rally at his home VFW post in Folsom, followed by a two-day tour that will take him to Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Harrisburg, and Scranton - ending with an appearance tomorrow on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report.Specter jumped from the GOP in order to avoid a primary from the right. He's getting a primary anyway. And, this is going to be a battle.
Specter, after four decades as a Republican, nearly three of them in the Senate, switched parties in April, saying the GOP had become too conservative for him to win election to a sixth term.
While President Obama, Gov. Rendell, and much of the party leadership immediately embraced Specter, Sestak is betting that many rank-and-file Democrats won't trust the change. As he barnstormed this summer across the state, Sestak attacked what he called an effort by Washington elites to "anoint" Specter the party nominee.
"It's kind of David vs. Goliath - an insurgency versus the establishment," said pollster G. Terry Madonna of Franklin and Marshall College. "The irony is Sestak is equating it with Obama's battle against Washington and the way it does business."
Follow Sestak's announcement tour live via his website: joesestak.com
